# CI vs. Cigar.com



## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

Ok so I recently made an order from Cigars International and one from Cigar.com. I bought samplers from both and it is clear that CI has much better prices on its samplers, and if both websites have the same sampler it is a least $5 cheaper on CI. So I ordered my cigars with Cigar.com's flat rate shipping of 10 bucks and CI's shipping of 6 bucks. My CI order arrived the NEXT DAY! And that was with the cheapest shipping. Cigar.com took 3 days. Now about the cigars. The Cigar.com cigars where sitting in their bag on the bottom of the box and there were some of those air pillows sitting on top. I guess this means only one side of the box ever gets damaged? The cigars themselves were over humidified and all had miscolored and spotted wrappers. They actually appeared to be 2nds. Now onto CI. The cigars were securely packed in the box and not just protected on one side. And the cigars themselves were beautiful. The moisture was perfect and I could smoke them right away. They also had perfect wrappers. So the moral of the story is that I will NEVER buy from Cigar.com again. CI rules!


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## fuente~fuente (May 11, 2009)

Well they're both owned by the same company Chris, so you'd have to boycott both of them unfortunately.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience though.


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## bilingue23 (Jun 7, 2009)

I do prefer CI over cigar.com, mainly due to their lower prices. Yes, they are owned by the same company though. Also, dont pay shipping when you order from CI. There is a free shipping link in this forum somewhere...


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## arodgers (Sep 10, 2009)

Strange, I've had the exact opposite experience. Everything I've ordered from CI or CBid came packaged like you described your order from cigar.com. I've never had a problem with anything being damaged though, so I guess the packaging is effective.


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## thrasher64 (Jun 4, 2009)

arodgers said:


> Strange, I've had the exact opposite experience. Everything I've ordered from CI or CBid came packaged like you described your order from cigar.com. I've never had a problem with anything being damaged though, so I guess the packaging is effective.


Yeah, I've had shipments come from CI with the gars up against the wall of the box. So far no major damage and the prices can't be beat.


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

fuente~fuente said:


> Well they're both owned by the same company Chris, so you'd have to boycott both of them unfortunately.
> 
> Sorry to hear you had a bad experience though.


then why 2 different websites? and why different shipping and storing practices?


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## Cletus (Apr 8, 2009)

Same here -- box from CI was carefully packaged with the cigars at the bottom and the air pillows on top. Fortunately the cigars were in cellos and then wrapped in another baggie so there was only _slight_ damage to the foot of two or three cigars.

I just assumed the people in the warehouse don't smoke and are therefore careless when packing our shipments. This is true of so many things I buy online though.

.


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## thrasher64 (Jun 4, 2009)

Ci, Cigar.com and Cbid, I'm guessing all ship from the same warehouse/humi and probably a few other sites under the same umbrella.


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## fuente~fuente (May 11, 2009)

Well I can't explain the different shipping methods, & I'm not even sure they ship from the same warehouse honestly. It may have something to do with catering to different types of customers. The sites are all different moving through them, & have a different feel as far as the vibe the sites put off. Could be tax reasons... I dunno. 

You'll see the same thing if you buy athletic team apparel from different sites online. NCAA Fanzone, Rivals.com, & even some official stores of college athletic departments use the same vendor. They just change the name of the site, but your ordering from the same place basically.:dunno:


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## Shaz (Oct 10, 2008)

thrasher64 said:


> Ci, Cigar.com and Cbid, I'm guessing all ship from the same warehouse/humi and probably a few other sites under the same umbrella.


 :tpd: I've never ordered from CI, but CBID and cigar.com both shipped my gars just fine. I like cigar.com because they always throw in some water pillows. But I'm sure they're all from the same warehouse.


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## Rev2010 (Sep 3, 2008)

Some mentioned in another thread that Cigar.com is a perfect website name in that most people just looking to buy cigars will type that in, whether for a gift or whatever. As a result they likely charge more on that site do to who is going to type in that link - not people searching around for the absolute best bargain. Makes sense and is a pretty reasonable explanation as to why it's run different than CI.


Rev.


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## Shaz (Oct 10, 2008)

Rev2010 said:


> Some mentioned in another thread that Cigar.com is a perfect website name in that most people just looking to buy cigars will type that in, whether for a gift or whatever. As a result they likely charge more on that site do to who is going to type in that link - not people searching around for the absolute best bargain. Makes sense and is a pretty reasonable explanation as to why it's run different than CI.
> 
> Rev.


Make sense to me. What doesn't make sense is that cigar.com is willing to ship to Canada, but CI and CBID won't. Probably a good thing tho.:target:


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## iMarc (Feb 24, 2010)

Hey, it could be worse... it could be like TigerDirect.com/CompUSA.com/CircuitCity.com

All they did was reskin the exact same database. Pick out any product on one, and then just change the root domain and watch the magic.

For some reason, I thought that Cigar.com shipped from a different location (Bethel vs. Bath?) and I figured they have a different warehouse while CBid and CI comes from the same place. Hell, my CBid order came in CI baggies.


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## jsnake (Oct 6, 2009)

Cigar.com and CI have outstanding customer service. If you don't like the way something was shipped call and tell them. I think Ccom has a smaller staff and you get more personal care from them. They all ship out of the same warehouse along with several other internet based companies. While they might all be stand alone companies that are in competition with each other they are owned by the same parent company.


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## dirletra (Apr 14, 2009)

I've never ordered from cigar.com but i have had GREAT service and gars from CI.


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## zrhoad66 (Nov 10, 2009)

CI is great!


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## jamesc1995 (Feb 14, 2010)

Shaz said:


> :tpd: I've never ordered from CI, but CBID and cigar.com both shipped my gars just fine. I like cigar.com because they always throw in some water pillows. But I'm sure they're all from the same warehouse.


How did you get an order from CBID? According to their website they just ship inside the US. I would be interested to know as I am a fellow Canadian. Did they ship them 'discreetly' or did you have to pay the duties?

Thanks


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## bresdogsr (Jan 27, 2005)

I have never had a problem with either and have actually found cheaper at Cigar.com sometimes but not often.


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## JGD (Mar 2, 2009)

Rev2010 said:


> Some mentioned in another thread that Cigar.com is a perfect website name in that most people just looking to buy cigars will type that in, whether for a gift or whatever. As a result they likely charge more on that site do to who is going to type in that link - not people searching around for the absolute best bargain. Makes sense and is a pretty reasonable explanation as to why it's run different than CI.
> 
> Rev.


Exactly.


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## tpharkman (Feb 20, 2010)

I have only placed two online orders so far and both were from CI. I bought one through the Jambalaya and the other was a bundle throug the make me an offer page. The bundle was Puro Indios and some of them had splotchy wrappers but I believe that is more of a PI issue than CI issue. All in all I thought the cigars looked so good that it was hard for me to believe they were real. 

I am not sure about cigar.com but I am sure I will find out as I have an itchy trigger finger when it comes to the "submit" button.:dunno: That is the motion I make when receiving cigars via mail...as I am just trying to confuse the wife into thinking I wasn't planning on receiving any.


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## Homebrewer (May 31, 2008)

Cigar.com's daily deals have been kicking Joe's butt lately.


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## Shaz (Oct 10, 2008)

jamesc1995 said:


> How did you get an order from CBID? According to their website they just ship inside the US. I would be interested to know as I am a fellow Canadian. Did they ship them 'discreetly' or did you have to pay the duties?
> 
> Thanks


I had a mule bring the cigars over the border.:car:


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## Kevin Keith (Jan 24, 2010)

I'm gonna go for being Today's Joe one of these days. Prolly have the lowest sales of any day!


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## Flux (Oct 19, 2009)

Same parent company. Same distribution center. The difference is in cigar selection - Cigar.com has a few more high end goodies and tries to portray itself a cut above CI in terms of service and selection. Notice the difference in catalog format? They both have their place in my world. :tu:


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## Herficionado (Jun 19, 2009)

CI and Cigar.com cater to different types of cigar users I think. Cigar.com to the more "discriminating buyer" while CI to the average joe. Both have good deals sometimes though.


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

Herficionado said:


> CI and Cigar.com cater to different types of cigar users I think. Cigar.com to the more "discriminating buyer" while CI to the average joe. Both have good deals sometimes though.


I agree, Cigar.com tries to be more classy and proffesional.


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## eboniknight (Dec 3, 2008)

I order from both....just did a Diesel 5-pack this morning from CI. Agree with others here that both are good. Depending on the number of stick, Cigar.com almost always comes in a storage bag and water pillow with a box of matches to boot......not that I use them much....lol!!!


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## gibson_es (Jan 23, 2010)

i have never ordered from cigar.com. but i have ordered from CI and i am very happy with the service. i didnt get it as quick as others. but there in PA and im in FL so i didnt expect it to, last order was late monday night, so it whent out on tues. i got it on friday. the only think i wish they would do would be to put something in the box for humidification.


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## Herficionado (Jun 19, 2009)

Suzza said:


> I agree, Cigar.com tries to be more classy and proffesional.


Yes! They are the same company (good luck getting them to admit it) but they target different market segments.


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## iMarc (Feb 24, 2010)

Herficionado said:


> Yes! They are the same company (good luck getting them to admit it) but they target different market segments.


But they don't hide it either.

They all list the same address on their websites.

Cigar.com - Info
Cigars International
Cigarbid.com Auctions - Contact Us


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## xmacro (Mar 24, 2010)

I've ordered from cigar.com, CI and Famous - generally I'm very pleased with all 3; though since I'm in Florida, I somewhat prefer Cigar.com since they use humidity pillows when they ship (UPS or USPS takes 3-5 days to reach me unless I use Next day, which is too damn expensive)

Cigar.com's prices are for the most part the same as CI, though I always check between all 3 before ordering. Famous has much better prices for Cohiba's, while CI has some fantastic prices on Rockey Patel that no one else beats, but Cigar.com typically has the same price as the other two on most of their cigars (as I said, I like the humi-pillow, and if the prices are all the same, I go with Cigar.com)



iMarc said:


> But they don't hide it either.
> 
> They all list the same address on their websites.
> 
> ...


Looks like a warehouse, though it's small enough to be offices:

http:/----/img18.imageshack.us/img18/5199/newpictureay.png

EDIT - won't let me post links, but the pic is from google earth; just remove the dashes (-----)


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## iMarc (Feb 24, 2010)

I don't think Cigar.com has the free shipping option, so most of the time CI is cheaper for me.


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## anjoga (Mar 23, 2010)

I'm still new, but I've done all of my orders from CI. They are as much a quality establishment as I've ever seen.


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## gibson_es (Jan 23, 2010)

iMarc said:


> I don't think Cigar.com has the free shipping option, so most of the time CI is cheaper for me.


ditto!


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## mlbar1153 (Mar 4, 2009)

I guess I have been very lucky. Have had only positive dealing with them both. Will continue to use both.


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